MMWA-SICW Dec. 13 Recap

“Cowboy” Bob Orton made a special appearance in East Carondelet, IL to help “Night Train” Gary Jackson take on Jerome Cody and Phil E. Blunt. With a jam-packed audience at the East Carondelet Community Center, MMWA-SICW put on a show that had the fans on the edge of their seats.

Anticipation buzzed through the building, as Orton made his way to the ring for the main event steel cage match. With Commissioner Keith Smith as the special referee—and his conflicts with The Connection well-known—nobdoy left their seat. Cody tried to end the match abruptly as he went to climb out of the cage the moment the bell rang. Jackson put a quick stop to Cody’s foolishness and proceeded with the match. As Blunt tagged in, he gained control and cornered the recently tagged Orton. Being such, Jackson made the save for the legend, giving Orton the upper hand. In traditional ‘Cowboy’ fashion, he used the legendary cast and gained control. However, the match soon turned against them, but not for long. Jackson once again came to Orton’s aid and cleaned house, thus allowing Orton to secure victory for his team, as Jackson took out Cody.

As a stipulation for the match, if The Connection lost, their manager, Travis Cook, had to be in the ring with Orton for five minutes. At first Cook tried to take advantage, but to no avail. This time slot was apparently a match, and Orton pinned Cook in just over four minutes.

Following the main event, Shaft came out and claimed that his new year’s resolution would start on Jan. 10, when he “puts Jackson down for the one, two, three.”

A former MMWA-SICW Heavyweight Champion in Jeremy Lightfoot took on Eric Brewer in the previous bout. Brewer gained an early advantage with the first takedown, but Lightfoot quickly worked his way out of Brewer’s grasp and hit Brewer with his signature chops. By the five minute mark, Lightfoot gained control, but not for long. Neither man attained a clear advantage but both scored a number of two counts. In the end, Lightfoot won via pinfall at 13:24.

Bobby D had his hands full against the Junior Heavyweight Champion A.J. Williams. Despite one’s initial thoughts, D controlled a good portion of the match, until Williams connected with a Harley Race-like high knee and an elbow drop from the top rope. Williams only received a two-count on this excursion, but it did not deter him. He continued punishing D, even taking it outside of the ring. Much to the displeasure of the fans, the match ended in a no-contest because neither man returned to the ring prior to the 10 count.

One of Shaft’s biggest tests to date came in the form of The Big Texan, accompanied by Waco. Shaft would have had an easier time of trying to dismantle Texan if Waco had not been present. The ‘mini-Texan’ interfered on separate occassions, causing Referee Jim Harris to throw him out. Shaft tried to utilize that window of opportunity and capitalize, but Texan’s power overwhelmed him. Shaft’s determination was put to the test yet again, and he passed with flying colors; he regained his focus and locked Texan in his signature ankle lock. Inspite of this, Texan had the wherewithall to esacpe the maneuver, and the match progressed, with both men vying for the upper hand, which neither gained, and the competition ended in a draw at the 15-minute time limit.

The previous bout tested the luchador Chucho’s high-flying antics against the more ‘pound and ground’ style of “Wild Child” Billy Diamond, accompanied by Lightfoot. Chucho and Diamond both had their moments to shine, as Chucho connected with a second-rope moonsault and Diamond caught the luchador in a devastating ankle lock. After five minutes, Diamond had Chucho grounded, but Chucho swiftly sent Diamond out of the ring with a hurricanrana. The resiliency of Diamond shined bright, as he went back to work on the knee/ankle region and thus earned the pinfall at 9:41.

The ‘Middle-Eastern Menace’ Saladin took on a fan favorite in Mr. Bibbs. Saladin controlled the opening stages of the bout, but Bibbs’ tenacity soon took over, and Saladin never had a chance to recover. Ten minutes in, Saladin inadvertently hit his head on the ring post, which allowed Bibbs to catch Saladin off-guard. In the end, Bibbs’ brute force was no match for Saladin, who lost to the MMWA-SICW veteran in 12:11.

One of the company’s newest athletes, Blade, put his skills up against those of Waco, who had The Big Texan at ringside. Perhaps fearing that the newcomer would out-wrestle him, Waco called upon Texan to interfere and tip the scales in his favor, so to speak. Nonetheless, that was not necessary because they appeared evenly matched. As the match came to a close, Waco had a distinct advantage over Blade, but Blade quickly gained momentum—as if from nowhere—and defeated Waco.

The MMWA-SICW returns to the South Broadway Athletic Club in St. Louis, MO on Jan. 10 and the East Carondelet Community Center on Jan. 17.